


...shame...pure shame.

by Lemon_head



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Arachnophobia, Bottom Tyler, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Gay Sex, M/M, Smut, Step-Brothers, Step-siblings, This is Bad, Top Josh, Tyler's a vegetarian, bill is the best, change my mind, im sorry, possibly fluff?, tyler is SUPER scared of spiders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 17:29:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19446214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemon_head/pseuds/Lemon_head
Summary: !!!that step brother AU that no one asked for!!!(super bad summary~~~~ Tyler's mom starts dating josh's dad. Doesn’t tell anyone. For 3 years. They end up getting married. Tyler and josh hate each other. A lot. That’s pretty much the gist of it. oh! they're gonna have sex at some point. so yeah.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm ashamed. I like step bro AUs too much. So I thought I’d make one. I’ll probably stop updating it after 5 chapters tbh but I’ll try my hardest. (not true)
> 
> Some things I didn’t mention in the summary but will provide some context:  
> Tyler doesn’t have any siblings. Tyler’s on good terms with his dad(kinda). Tyler’s mom’s ex was abusive and shit to her and to Tyler. Big no-no. will most likely go into that. might not. depends on my mood. Josh is an only child. His mom is married to some hot, young soccer player, in south america. They don’t talk much. If I end up having smut in this, tyler’s gonna be the bottom. Sorry? Not really. We all know josh is a top. That’s just how it is.
> 
> Also Tyler doesn’t eat that much and Josh eats literally everything (not really important but just thought it would be funny). And Tyler has a really good relationship with his parents.
> 
> Starts out kinda lighthearted but will have some fucked up undertones ngl. I’m not a big angst fan myself, mostly because of the way it’s portrayed the majority of the time. I’m really bad at keeping things serious so it’s gonna be a little weird. It’ll still be mostly humor. tell me what I’m doing wrong. (I need help)
> 
> Also tyler has a futon instead of a bed and this is important because futons are unappreciated and nobody talks about how awesome they are. It’s a couch but it’s a bed! Fucking genius.
> 
> And tyler’s gonna be a vegetarian. Cause why not.

Tyler was on the phone with his dad while sitting upside down on his futon (A/N:You know, with his legs over the back and his head hanging down at the bottom? Just thought that need to be clarified.) 

“So how’s this weekend looking?”

“Dude, it’s only Tuesday,” Tyler laughed, ”I don’t know. I can probably come over but I’ve got like school shit to do and all we do at your place is play darts and watch “The Price Is Right”. My current grades are being compromised as a result.”

“I get it. You don’t wanna hang out with your old man. It’s fine,” Tyler’s dad exaggerated, “It’s really fine though. You do what you need to do and then graduate, and then we can hang out all the time.”

“Alright thanks. Shit, mom’s home,” Tyler said, hearing the car door shut outside.

“Tell her I said hi.”

“You wish. Love you, talk to you tomorrow.”

“Love you too, shithead,” his dad laughed.

Once the line cut, Tyler flopped out of his awkward position and stumbled to the front door. 

“I’ve got some big news, Ty,” his mom squealed, as she entered.

“What’re you getting married or something?” Tyler joked.

Kelly’s eyes widened as her smile got wider.

“Let’s go sit,” she said, guiding him to the living room.

“You’re not seriously getting married?”

“I’ve been keeping something from you for a while now and it’s definitely time you know. I went on a date with a very sweet man, named Bill, a few years ago and we really hit it off. And I wanted to tell you then but I wasn’t sure if it would work out so I kept it from you. We continued to got out and I still didn’t tell you. I thought that today would finally be the day so... I want you two to meet,” she said, still smiling.

“I-I-um. That’s great mom!” Tyler said, shocked, but still genuinely happy his mom found someone, “why did you wait until now to tell me? It seems a little excessive.”

“I didn’t know what was gonna happen. If we ended it and it wasn’t on a good note, I didn’t want you to have to deal with it too. Or if it ended up like last time”

“Well I’m so happy for you!” Tyler said, tensing up a little.

“He’s coming over for dinner tonight and I expect you to be on your very best behaviour.”

“I’m not five,” Tyler laughed.

“Well especially tonight you’re not!”

Tyler giggled and hugged his mom. He knew it had been hard on her since her last boyfriend. It had been hard on him too.

He was great in the beginning, as most are, but towards the end it was not a healthy situation. The guy at the time would get absolutely shitfaced and do the normal abusive alcoholic things. Scream, cry, throw lamps, hit people etc. That was when Tyler was 10. Even though it had been a whole 6 years, he still remembered some of the shit that went down. He’d never seen his mom get violent until then. Once Kelly saw him even slightly raised his hand in Tyler’s direction, Kelly ran to the knife drawer. He hit the road and never came back. 

When Kelly found out some of the other shit this guy did to Tyler, she told herself she’d never let that situation happen again. That was the real reason she didn’t tell him. She couldn’t stand the thought of him re doing it.

“So tell me about him.”

“Well his name is Bill Dun, he has one son, a dog, he’s super sweet, he makes some serious money, he’s very handsome,” she continued on, smiling like an idiot.

“I think I get the point,” Tyler giggled.

“Well I’m gonna go make dinner. Be ready when he gets here.”

Tyler nods and hops off the couch then heads to his room.

\-------------------------------------------------------

“Ty! He’s here!” Kelly yelled.

“Ok!” Tyler yelled back.

Tyler stumbled his way to the table. He wasn’t really known for his coordination abilities.

“Hello! I’m Bill,” the man in front of him said.

He was smiling just as much as Kelly.

“I’m Tyler,” the boy replied, reaching his hand out to shake Bill’s.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he shook Tyler’s hand.

They all sat down at the table.

“Why’d you make two lasagnas?” Bill asked, looking at the table.

“One’s for Tyler. He doesn’t eat meat,” Kelly responded.

“Are you a PETA member or something?” Bill asked, jokingly.

“No I just think it’s healthier. Has nothing to do with the animal thing,” Tyler said.

“Does he know yet?” Bill whispered in Kelly’s ear.

She shook her head.

“Well Ty, there’s one thing I haven’t told you about me and Bill. Earlier today-um- he asked me,” she had to pause to giggle a little, “He asked me to marry him!”

“H-Holy shit Mom! That-that’s amazing!” Tyler said, shocked beyond belief.

“Oh god! I’m so glad you took that well,” Bill said, laughing.

Tyler got up and hugged his mom. He was so happy for her. Hell, he was happy for Bill. When they were done hugging, Kelly hugged Bill, then Bill hugged Tyler, then they ate.

“So uh- how’s the whole house situation gonna work?” Tyler asked, while he picked at his food.

“Well me and Bill talked about it and we’re moving into his house before the wedding.”

Tyler couldn’t have been happier. He hated their current house. It was small, yet so big and empty. It was scary to be alone in. Tyler was pretty sure it was haunted.

“So Tyler, I’m pretty sure you already know that I have a son,” Tyler nodded, “His name is Josh. I’m sure you two will get along fine. He doesn’t have any siblings either so this will be a bit of an adjustment for both of you but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“How old is he?” Tyler asked.

“16. Same as you if I remember correctly?”

Tyler nodded and smiled. He’d always wanted a sibling. He would have hoped for a girl though. Even he knew that boys are gross. And the don’t let you do their hair. He could deal with it though. 

“Here’s a picture of him,” Bill got his wallet out and showed him a picture of a kid who looked 8 years old, “It’s a little dated but he looks pretty much the same.”

“Awe! So cute!” Tyler giggled, looking at the picture of Josh in a little suit with a bow tie.

“Oh he does not look the same!” Kelly said.

“You’ve met him?” tyler asked.

“Yeah a couple times. He’s a really sweet boy. You’ll get along great.”

This was a lot of new information to take in at once. Tyler was confused why he wasn’t freaking out. 

“Does he know about you two getting married?”

“No not yet. I’m really worried about how he’ll take it. I think it’ll be best to ease into it,” Bill responded.

They continued to talk about Josh and school and the wedding. When it was time for Bill to leave everyone hugged and said their goodbyes. 

“I’m gonna go to bed now mom,” Tyler yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“Okay Ty. Love you,” she said, giving him a hug.

“So when’s the wedding?”

“It’s a surprise,” she giggled.

Tyler smiled and then went back to his room.

\---------------------------------------------------

5 months later

It was finally the big day. Kelly and Bill were getting married. Tyler couldn’t have been happier for his mom. There was one downside though. Bill’s son, Josh.

Tyler met him once before the wedding, but it was just an uncomfortable handshake and then Josh went to his room. He didn’t seem very fond of the whole situation. And now with the wedding happening it really showed. Any time his dad looked at him, he forced a smile, but once he looked away, Josh looked like a kicked puppy. As the reception started his excitement levels continued to plummet.

“Hey, man,” Tyler sat next to him, trying to console him.

“What do you want?” Josh glared at him.

“Geez. I can tell you’re not too happy about this whole situation, but it’s gonna be fine. Your dad seems really happy. You should be too,” Tyler tried to add a little smile at the end, in hopes Josh would lighten up.

“I don’t need you telling me what I should be doing, asshole,” Josh snapped back.

Tyler’s smile faded and walked away. He had better things to be doing. He was going to dance around, eat cake, then go home for his last night at his house and Josh was going to mope around.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Kelly went home with Bill that night( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and Tyler went back to the other house to finish packing his things. 

He wasn’t very happy about having to live with Josh. Though he would admit Josh was attractive, he was just such a Debbie Downer. He didn’t get up throughout the entire reception and was practically running out the door at the end.

\--------------------------------------------------

The next day he had to have all his shit packed up and ready to move. He (stupidly) decided to pack them up in the morning, 5 minutes before the moving van got there, instead of when he got home the night before. That resulted in him throwing the rest of his stuff in boxes and breaking a few things. 

Once Bill rolled up in the van, after Kelly scolded Tyler for his packing technique, they loaded everything up and drove to Bill’s house. It was a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house. The master bedroom was where Bill and Kelly would live, the room next to that was Josh’s, and the room at the very end of the house was Tyler’s. The 4th room was the whole upstairs area. Just stairs that go up and lead into one big room. Bill said it’s their TV room, but it’s also got music stuff and he’s hoping to put a craft area in for Tyler’s mom. Tyler’s room was right next to the kitchen/dining room area. He hadn’t really gone anywhere in the house but the living room until then. His mom knew all about the house. Then the big news hit him.

He and Josh had to share a bathroom. Tyler had never shared a bathroom with anyone but his mom. Even at his dad’s house he had his own bathroom. And Josh hates him. And he’s not much of a fan of Josh either. There was so much potential for bad stuff to happen. 

Bill helped him move his futon into his new room, and then he helped with the boxes. Tyler really liked Bill. He’s helpful and he wasn’t mean in any way shape or form. Just really happy all the time. He was wondering what went wrong with Josh.

“Alright Tyler. I’ve got a big question to ask you,” Bill started,”What color do you want your room?”

“You’re kidding right?” Tyler asked, shocked.

“Nope. Pick a color.”

“Dark blue,” he answered.

“Oh Tyler, this is gonna be so fun! We get to decorate your room, finally!” his mom squealed, excitedly.

“Alright let’s go get some paint before we move all your stuff in,” Bill said, grabbing his keys.

He gave Kelly a kiss and then left. They got in the car and started driving to the paint store.

“So do you want to paint the whole room or just do a wall or two?” Bill asked.

“Just two walls. I feel like a whole room would be a little weird looking.”

“Okay. I’m sorry for how Josh was acting yesterday. He’s kinda weird about this stuff. He’s used to it just being me and him. And his mom is kind of horrible so he’s not used to having a mom around,” Bill apologized.

“Where is she now?”

“Somewhere in South America. She married some hot, young soccer player. She hasn’t called Josh or answered his calls in 6 or 7 months now.”

“That sucks. So do you think we’ll be okay, like, he’ll finally stop hating me,” Tyler asked.

Though he didn’t like Josh too much, he still wanted Josh to like him.

“I’m sure at some point he’ll get over it. He’s never wanted a sibling or anything like that.”

“I’m the exact opposite! I always wanted someone to hang out with while my mom was at work.”

“Yeah. As someone who has 4 brothers and sisters, I’m so jealous!” Bill laughed,”So just out of curiosity, are things with you and your dad okay?”

“Yep. No daddy-issues on my part,” Tyler giggled.

“That’s probably why you’re taking all of this so well.”

Tyler nodded as they pulled into the parking lot. They went inside and Tyler picked a color. He showed it to Bill then they bought it.

(A/N: here’s the color Tyler wants. #1A237E)

On the drive back Bill and Tyler talked about how he was gonna do his room. They were gonna paint two walls blue and leave the other two the existing tan color. They stopped to get some food at Taco Bell (Tyler’s request) and then got back home. Tyler and Bill were laughing around about some stupid joke when they walked in. 

Unfortunately, Josh saw. He wasn’t pleased to see his dad having fun and paying attention to some other kid. Especially Tyler. He glared at Tyler and stormed off to his room. Kelly called Bill, from the kitchen.

“Can you bring him his food?” Bill asked, apologetically, while handing him the Taco Bell bag.

Tyler internally groaned, but nodded and grabbed the anyway.

“Maybe you two can become buddies.” 

“Ha. very funny. You saw the way he looked at me,” Tyler said.

Tyler walked to the middle of the hall to Josh’s room and knocked on the door. Josh opened it then tried closed it immediately when he saw who it was. Tyler shoved his foot in between the door and the frame.

“Hey! Can you at least take your stupid burrito?” Tyler said, sounding very annoyed.

“Be nice!” he heard his mom yell from the kitchen.

“Get out of my room!” Josh growled.

“Take the food!”

Josh swung the door open, grabbed the bag of food, then slammed it shut.

“You’re welcome,” Tyler yelled, sounding equally as pissed as Josh.

He could hear Josh scoff from behind the door.

“How’d it go?” Bill whispered, from the other end of the hall.

“How do you think it went?”

“I’m sure he’ll warm up to you at some point. Let’s go paint your room,” Bill said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler and Josh get to know each other better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting a warning for the spider thing. i got scared writing this. i'm terrified of those creepy crawleys and it takes a lot outta me to even write the word or think of the scenario. such a first world problem. so glad I don't live in Australia. i think they have those giant spiders that eat birds or some shit like that.

Once they finished painting his room they ran into their first problem. Tyler had nowhere to sleep while the paint was drying. Bill suggested sleeping on Josh’s floor. That sure as hell wouldn’t work out. Josh hadn’t come out of his room all day, except for the 5 minutes he stood at the fridge, loading up his arms with everything he could find. Tyler glanced at him as he walked past his door. He asked Bill if he always ate that much and according to his father, “That boy eats enough for a family of 5 and still wants desert. He could eat a whole cow if he wanted to.” 

“Well you can sleep on the couch, upstairs. I’m sure Josh wouldn’t mind that,” Bill said, though it sounded like he had no idea.

All of Tyler’s stuff was sitting in the living room. He was digging around in some of the boxes, seeming kind of stressed.

“Tyler, have you been upstairs yet?” Kelly asked.

“No. Have you seen my ukulele?” Tyler asked, frantically.

“Oh the little guitar thing? I put it upstairs, next to all of Josh’s music stuff,” Bill answered.

Tyler fell onto the couch, dramatically, while thanking him. Then he went to look upstairs. There was a desk at the top of the stairs with a computer and a bunch of fancy papers. Tyler assumed it was Bill’s work stuff. There was a filing cabinet right next to the desk, and a couch next to that. On the wall across the couch there was a big TV. Next to the TV was a drum set, keyboard, a bass, and then Tyler’s ukulele on a table next to the couch. The ceiling was a cathedral ceiling (parallel to the roof) so there wasn’t a ton of room for walking.

Tyler walked over to the drums and looked at them. Most of one of the cymbals was chipped away. Tyler realized they were Josh’s drums most likely, judging by how muscular Josh was, and Bill didn’t really look like a drum guy. Tyler walked away from them, thinking Josh would get mad if he saw him touching his drums. Tyler would be mad if Josh touched his ukulele. Don’t let someone you don’t like near your possessions. You’ll regret it.

Tyler could hear Josh and his dad arguing, downstairs. Something about him having to get over it and how Tyler was “a nice boy”.

Then he heard stomping coming up the stairs. He knew it was Josh. 

“My dad told me to show you around here,” Josh grumbled, not looking Tyler in the eye.

“You seem thrilled about it,” Tyler said, staring at the ground.

“Don’t you start. You don’t know anything about me. I’m only doing this because my dad told me to.”

“You don’t need to show me around anyway. I already looked at everything,” Tyler noted, annoyance dripping from his voice.

“Okay well there’s one rule about this room. If you touch my drums, I. Will. Murder. You.” Josh gently moved Tyler away from them as he said this.

Tyler was red in the face. He wasn’t sure if it was cause he was hot pissed at Josh or if his gay was showing.

“Well you can’t touch my ukulele,” he fired back, defensively.

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

Tyler couldn’t take being in that room any longer. He stomped down the stairs and started walking to the kitchen when a big, fluffy golden dog nudged up against his hand.

“Oh my god!” he screamed.

Bill, Kelly, and Josh all ran to the hallway to see what happened, to find Tyler already on the floor cuddling the dog.

“What’s your name, big guy?” 

“It’s Jim,” Josh said, sounding irritated, “and he’s my dog.”

His dad gave him a quick, harsh look.

“He’s the family dog. Josh is just so used to having him all to himself,” Bill said from the other end of the hall.

“Can I go play outside with him?” Tyler begged.

“Yeah sure. His toys are in a bucket next to the door,” Bill pointed behind him.

Tyler bolted outside with the dog and started a game of fetch. Bill went the opposite direction to talk to Josh.

“Why can’t you just be nice to him?” 

“He started it! He’s been an asshole ever since we met. He wouldn’t even shake my hand the first time we met. He just looked at the floor and talked to you and Kelly!”

“He was probably nervous! You of all people should understand. You both have never had siblings before. Give him a break. I expected you to be mad about me getting married, not having a brother,” Bill raised his voice.

“Yeah, but Kelly’s nice! He’s a total Dick,” Josh yelled back.

Bill grabbed Josh by the arm and dragged him to the back window.

“Look at him! He’s a nice boy! You can’t be a little bitch about him playing with Jim. Now go out there, and try being friends!” 

Bill released his arm and Josh walked outside. It was July, so it was fairly warm outside. Tyler was wearing black shorts and a black and white band T-shirt. Josh understood exactly how warm it must have felt, wearing all black in the sun. He spent most of middle school doing it. He watched the other boy fake throw the ball, the confused expression on Jim’s face when he couldn’t find it, and then Jim zooming around the yard, like a bullet. It wasn’t until Jim ran past Josh that Tyler noticed him standing there.

They stood there, silently, while Jim ran around, Tyler held the ball towards Josh and raised his eyebrows. Josh perked up, wanting to throw the ball to Jim. He still knew Jim was his dog. Tyler did the whole pretend throw thing to throw Josh off. It worked. Which resulted in Tyler falling over, laughing.

“It’s not that funny,” Josh grumbled, very visibly blushing from embarrassment.

“Are you kidding? It’s fucking hilarious,” Tyler responded, still giggling uncontrollably. 

Bill came out to check and see if they killed each other yet, to find Tyler on the ground giggling.

“I see you two have finally worked things ou-” Bill was interrupted by Josh walking, angrily, inside.

“What’s wrong? Can’t take a joke?” Tyler asked, still laughing.

Josh rolled his eyes and went upstairs to practice. He usually played best while angry.

\-----------------------------------------

Tyler had to admit, it wasn’t actually that funny. It was Josh’s reaction that was priceless. About an hour after that whole ordeal, they ate dinner. Everyone except Tyler had steak, while he had a big pile of salad and mashed potatoes. His mom said he was a classic case of having “eyes bigger than your stomach”. Josh was quite the opposite, and took a little at a time, but oh boy did it stack up.

Tyler ate about half his pile of potatoes and half of the salad, while Josh ate two whole steaks, two giant scoops of mashed potatoes, a couple bites of salad, and then drank some of the greasy juice from the steak pan. Bill was busy eating his food, not phased at all, while Tyler and Kelly gawked at Josh. 

“Do you always eat like a goat?” Tyler asked, while taking a drink of his water.

“Do you always look like a monkey?”

Kelly and Bill couldn’t help but giggle a little at it, while the two boys mocked each other. 

“This is so nice. Eating dinner together like a family,” Bill tried to start up the stereotypical family dinner conversation.

The response was a mix of Josh groaning, Tyler laughing very loudly, and Kelly giggling. 

“So we actually have something to discuss now,” Kelly started, excitedly, “Honeymoon. Me and Bill haven’t really been talking to you guys much about it, mostly because we didn’t think we were gonna do it, but we made plans!”

“Where are you guys going?” Tyler asked.

“The most typical Honeymoon spot in the world! Bora Bora!” Kelly responded.

“For how long?” Josh asked, still processing the massive amount of food he’d ingested.

“10 days.”

Tyler and Josh both stared at each other in horror. 

“Are you gonna leave us with anyone?” Josh asked, nervously.

“Well Josh, you’re 17, Tyler’s 16. You should be fine. If anything really bad happens we could have Tyler’s dad come over?” Bill tried to get Kelly on board with it.

“Assuming he brings no stupid friends over. And only in case of an emergency. He can’t be living here,” Kelly warned.

“When are you leaving?” Tyler asked, equally as scared as Josh.

“In 3 days.”

Tyler and Josh had to stay together unsupervised for 10 days. Someone was gonna end up dead. No doubt about it. 

“What if I just stay at my dad’s house the whole time? It’s summer so I won’t have to go to school,” Tyler asked.

“Your dad has no money, is mooching off his brother and that’s the only reason he has a house, and Josh shouldn’t be alone. It’s more safe this way. I’m not gonna argue with you about this, Tyler. I know you and Josh aren’t the best of buds, but we want you both to be safe,” Kelly said, very firmly. 

“Now let’s set some rules, shall we?” Bill started, “No parties, no drinking, no killing, no more than two friends over at once and we need to know if you’re having a friend over, we’ll leave you money but it can only be used for food or emergencies.”

“So you’re saying you fully trust me and this asshole together?” Josh asked.

“What’s the worst that could happen? If either of you die, we’ll know why and then one of you will go to prison,” Kelly pointed out.

Josh groaned, got up and put his plate in the sink, then went upstairs.

“Well that went great,” Bill sighed.

“It’ll be fine. I won’t kill Josh,” Tyler joked.

“Oh I just can’t wait to decorate your room!” Kelly said, looking across the dining room, to Tyler’s new room.

“As long as it’s got a nightlight in it, I’m down,” Tyler said, shoving a scoop of potatoes in his mouth.

“You should go upstairs and talk to Josh,” Bill tried, really hoping it would finally work, “he’s usually a really happy person, under all that teenage angst. You two don’t have to talk. You can just sit on the couch and watch TV.”

“You’re really pushing this,” Kelly said.

Bill looked at the boy expectantly. Tyler finally gave in and went upstairs. Josh was sitting on the couch looking through Hulu. He acknowledged Tyler briefly, then selected an episode of x-files. Tyler sighed then sat on the opposite end of the couch.

“You don’t have to sit up here, cause my dad told you to,” Josh started.

“Can you just shut up and watch the show? I’m trying to make your dad happy.”

“Why? What are you gaining from this?” Josh asked, obviously getting angry.

Tyler didn’t respond. He just stared at the TV. He had a bit of an issue with making sure people liked him, which seemed odd considering how he came off most of the time. So far, he knew Bill and him were cool. Josh, on the other hand, did not give a flying fuck if people liked him. That’s probably why he’s such an asshole, Tyler thought.

The whole situation was a little awkward. They just sat there watching TV silently. They would occasionally glance at each other to see if the other person was watching or not. Josh liked it, cause Tyler finally shut up, and Tyler liked it cause Josh wasn’t being a little bitch. As they got more comfortable being in each other’s presence, they got more physically comfortable. 

Tyler curled up in the corner, leaning his face vertically against a pillow, while Josh sat with his legs crossed and a blanket over his shoulders. Tyler looked at Josh’s blanket, pathetically.

“No, we’re not sharing. I might be able to sit in the same room with you, but we’re not sharing a fucking blanket,” Josh said.

“But you’re hogging the whole thing and I don’t know where anything is in this house. I just moved in today,” Tyler whined.

Josh sighed and got up. He went to the closet and grabbed a blanket, then threw it at Tyler.

“Thanks.” 

“Don’t mention it,” Josh said, sounding irritated.

They stayed like that for a few episodes. It was dark outside. Josh looked over and realized that Tyler was asleep. He couldn’t help but think Tyler looked beautiful. The most beautiful part in his opinion was that Tyler wasn’t talking. His staring was interrupted by Kelly standing at the top of the stairs, smirking. 

“You two still hate each other?” she whispered, smiling.

Josh’s face immediately turned red.

“He’s pretty nice when his mouth is shut.”

“Well your dad wanted me to tell you that Tyler’s sleeping up here, so you can’t stay here all night.”

Josh nodded and looked back at the TV.

“When you go to bed, can you straighten him out? If he sleeps like that he’ll get a kink in his neck and everyone in the house won’t hear the end of it,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.

Josh internally groaned, but nodded anyway. He liked Kelly and he didn’t want her to be mad at him.

“Night night, sweetheart,” she said to Josh, before walking down.

Josh looked at Tyler again and then sighed. 

\------------------------------------------------------

At around 2ish in the morning, Josh decided to go to sleep. He usually slept on the couch but since Tyler was there he had to move to his room. He turned the TV off and walked over to the stairs. Right when he reached them he remembered what Kelly told him to do. He walked back over to where Tyler was sleeping to straighten him out. He wasn’t really sure how to go about it. He especially didn’t want Tyler to wake up while he did it. 

He decided that grabbing his feet and pulling him down would be the best bet.

Boy was he wrong. The second he touched Tyler’s foot he got a sharp kick to the crotch. He tried to contain the pained noise that it caused. At that point he was determined to get it done and Tyler was still asleep. 

He grabbed Tyler’s feet as tightly and as fast as possible, then pulled him down the couch. After that, Josh pulled the blanket over the other boy, seeing as the majority of it was bunched up on his upper body. Then he adjusted the pillow so Tyler wouldn’t make everyone’s life hell the next day. Once he was done he grabbed his phone and went to his room.

He liked Tyler a hell of a lot more when he was asleep. He wasn’t running his mouth, wasn’t stealing Josh’s dad from him, and he looked downright angelic while he was asleep. Josh had pretty much come to terms with the fact that he’s bisexual. He definitely preferred females but there were a lot of guys that were “acceptions”. He didn’t really have much of a type with girls. If she had a pulse he would most likely find her attractive. With guys it was more complicated. Ironically, he liked guys like Tyler. When they have more feminine features it seemed to do the trick for him.

Josh fell asleep with the thought of Tyler lingering in the back of his head. Tyler seemed to be super comfortable talking about just about everything, even around his mom. Josh still knew practically nothing about him. He knew that Tyler liked running his mouth, was a vegetarian, had a futon, and had a ukulele. He wanted to get to know Tyler more, but the thought of some new kid stealing his dad away from him made him red from anger.

Right when he was starting to drift off, Jim jumped up on Josh and up to the window to bark at some wind that blew in the wrong direction, as if God himself were trying to tell him he was being petty and should just be friends with Tyler. After he was done yelling at Jim to shut up, there was a soft knock on his door.

“Hey, Josh? It’s me, Tyler. I-I need your help,” Tyler whispered, from outside of Josh’s door.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. What do you want?” the other boy whispered back, as he opened the door.

He was shocked to see Tyler’s face covered in tears, looking like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Oh. shit what-what’s wrong?” Josh asked, now concerned with Tyler’s issue.

“There was a- you’re going to thing I’m so stupid. T-there was an eight legged creepy crawly on my arm upstairs and I think it’s somewhere in the couch but I don’t know. Can you kill it?” Tyler asked, on the verge of crying again.

“You mean a spider?” Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tyler sobbed and shivered when the word left Josh’s lips.

“You’ve got some serious arachnophobia, huh?” he smirked.

He finally had some leverage on Tyler. A weak spot.

“What if I don’t kill the spider? Then what’re you gonna do?”

The look in Tyler’s eyes was priceless to Josh.

“You sick, sadistic, piece of fucking shit!” Tyler growled out.

“Night night Ty,” Josh said, with a shit eating grin as he closed his door only to get blocked by Tyler’s forearm.

“Please?” Tyler pleaded.

Josh had to admit that he sounded genuinely scared by the situation and it was fucked up to toy with someones irrational fears. He was looking all around the hallway and kept flinching at the wind blowing in the wrong direction.

“Please,” Tyler whined.

“Okay. Fine.”

Tyler moved out of the way so Josh could pass him. He followed at least 5 feet away from Josh. Probably even more. Whenever this happened he couldn’t be that close to anyone. If you touched him he would scream. There was no reason for his fear. Nothing traumatic involving spiders had happened to him. He’d never been bit or ran into a sack of eggs or anything like that.

Once they made it upstairs, Josh looked around on the couch and through the blankets until he found the little guy. Tyler stayed over by the staircase, shaking.

“Open the window,” Josh whispered.

Tyler looked at the web covered window and shook his head violently. He found a backscratcher next to Bill’s desk and used it to wiggle the window open while Josh coerced the spider into his hands and then closed it between his palms, leaving room so he didn’t crush it. He walked over to the window and tossed it outside.

When he looked back, Tyler was clutching the rail on the staircase with eyes wider than the Pacific Ocean.  
“Alright I got rid of it.”

“Thanks,” Tyler still sounded scared.

He walked back up to the couch and hovered over it for a little bit before he slowly sat down.

“Do you want the TV on or anyth-” Josh’s question was interrupted by Tyler sobbing some more.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler’s voice cracked as he apologized between sobs.

“Why are you crying?” Josh asked, concerned.

“I don’t know! I just- I can’t stop! I’m so scared of those things and I can’t sleep in new places without someone else there and I feel so stupid for crying in front of you even though we barely know each other,” Tyler said, as the tears poured out, “I’m just so stupid.”

“I won’t tell. I can hang out up here for a while longer if you want. As long as it’ll make you stop crying,” Josh sounded genuine, which shocked Tyler.

“You’re not gonna talk about how annoying and ugly I am right now?”

“I think that this is the first time I’ve actually been able to stand you cause you’re a wreck. You just seem more real. Not all lippy and stuff. It’s nice to know that you have emotions,” he replied, walking over to the couch.

“Was that your attempt at making me feel better?” Tyler raised an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Tyler sighed and wiped his eyes while Josh turned on the TV.

“So what’s with the spider thing?” Josh asked.

The other boy shuddered when he said the word.

“Fuck. sorry. How about the sleeping thing? You slept fine earlier.”

“Yeah, you were there. Once you left I felt the Thing crawling on my arm and I freaked out.”

Josh nodded then noticed Tyler struggling to pull the blanket out from underneath him. He got up and pulled the blanket out for him. He flicked around the different movies but then settled on Fight Club. About 15 minutes in Tyler was asleep with his head on the side of Josh’d thigh. Josh leaned over the opposite of where Tyler was laying and curled up with a blanket.

He still hated Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized halfway through that they still have to hate each other and I was writing it like they were okay with each other. whatever. tell me what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me how to make this better.


End file.
